MR. COATES ON MOTOR TRANSPORT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 July 1924, Page 3

MR. COATES ON MOTOR TRANSPORT.

. (To the Editor.) Sir, In Wednesday’s issue, of your paper you. publish certain information ie the main highways and motor traffic generally. The Minister of Public Works (who is also Minister for Railways) is reported as having stated: “W e are going out to meet the motor competition and take their business from them, and they might a s well know it.” That remark prompts one to what oil earth lias motor competition to do with public works? If the Public Works Department had some like competition (i.e., work), perha.p’S the long-suffering ratepayers would not lie so harassed with taxes. If the railways were run on a commercial basis there would be no need for a. commission of outside experts and ,a semiarbitration tribunal to arrange for better working conditions and wages for B grade raihvaymen. Whv, forsooth, because the railways are not scooping in all the carriage and delivery ol goods, shoftl t ] all motor competition he obliterated in a nice society manner per medium of an Act of Parliament and .Orders-in-Gonnoil ? It is understood generally that Parliament lepresents the people, hut it is a- question whether that holds at the present time. This fair Dominion promises under the present regime to he burdened with a plethora of hoards —the membership to lie regulated from Wellington in a gentlemanly fashion. Take the Highways Board. The chairman is the chief Public Works Engineer in Wellington. The sub-boards ' have as chairmen (or directors) the divisional J üblic Works Engineers. No public man can become chairman. From the foi mation of the hoard I have hold the idea (which now gains weight) that the Highways Board was primarily hatched and brought into being because the railways wore suffering through motor -traffic. Possibly the Minister of J. üblic W orks has requested the Minister oPCustoms to so burden all motor accessories, benzine, oil, etc. through the customs that all motor transport and services will he quelled It may he that the Minister of Public W orks if he had his way, would close all roads to motor traffic, and so force the public on to the railways, where they would have to pay any old price. Are not the roads throughout the Dominion public roads, and are they not there for public convenience ? The ratepayers pay for their formation and upkeep. Thousands of pounds are at present invested in motor cars and lorries of all descriptions, and it is to he hoped that all concerned will combine and fight the proposals tooth and na-1? People—mostly farmers—who are not served by the railways will be heavily burdened if the Minister has his way. Are they going to accent all the Minister’s dietums lying down s And will the members of‘the Reform Party blindly support the proposals? in Taranaki especially, and throughout the Dominion generally, there arc many motor services and carriers. The Minister says he ft- going to “take their business away from them.” * on Id a Minister of the noople he allowed to make such statements because the electors are being better served per medium of the mrTtor than uy the poorly-controlled raihvavs? Shortly after the striking railwayiiien lesumed duty, the Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works public]v expressed their thanks (on behalf of the Government) to nil motor services nnd trnnspm t proprietors for services rendered. Apparently it was all bluff, iioth, and bubble. It is hieh time the public generally exnressed "themselves in no light terms in the endeavours being made to still further burden their pockets. The old dictum still stands — the public cannot and will not lie fooled all the time. I trust that the Chambers of Commerce throughout the iotintrv will combat the Minister’s intentions of deliberately killing all private enterprise because the raihvnv departmental officers cannot make‘the railways pay (in the aggregate that is what it amounts to). —I am, etc., WAKEUP,